Knut Hamsun - Mysteries Ad-Free / Patron-Only Early Access

It sounds fascinating! I am a big fan here of Virginia Woolf and also of stream-of-consciousness experimental novels so I am definitely eager to read this one soon!

Seems like you had a similar reaction to this book that I have every time I've read it (four times now): that I really don't understand it. And I think that's why I like it so much - because it's unfathomable. Often when reading this book I felt like I was in a trance state, and according to Hamsun himself, as quoted by Robert Ferguson, large parts of it were written in a sort of trance. The book carries you along, and the frequent changes of perspective, from first to third person, is incomparably impressive. I've not read any other book where the author has such mastery of the language. What I've found reading this book many times is that every time you read it you get something new from it. The last time I read it, the scene that seemed to me to be central was his spontaneous violin performance at the town gala, in which he stunned everyone present , essentially blowing their minds. It was like he was effectively silencing the doubting Thomas's, and declaring, "Yes, I am capable of reaching the heights!", as if this performance was the apogee of his inner passions and turmoil. I suppose these days Nagel would be classified as suffering from a classic case of bipolar disorder - bipolar, with a sprinkling of Nietzsche and a tablespoon of mysticism. I agree that at times Nagel's self-sabotaging behaviour makes you cringe, but just as you feel like giving up on him he does, or says, or thinks, something which makes you do a double-take, and the book pulls you in once again. It's a real fucking rollercoaster of a novel. It's one of my all-time favourites. I find it...otherworldly.